


Start of Time (with you)

by kanekicure



Series: Way Down We Go [1]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe, Andrew Minyard Loves Neil Josten, Courting Rituals, First Time, M/M, Mating Rituals, Merpeople, Sexual Content, Soft Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard, a little something in a universe I'm working on, neil decides its time, they can shift but that isn't important right now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:22:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27363448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kanekicure/pseuds/kanekicure
Summary: If Neil was anyone else, he would have been able to do this.Mermaids spend their entire youth, on land or otherwise, talking about how they’ll design their nests when they finally accept the courting of a male counterpart. About how beautiful it’ll be, how soft, how intimate it’ll be as they become one. It’s one of the most overhyped things in merfolk culture.Finding your mate, accepting your mate.But Neil never grew up like the others.He isn’t anyone else, and he never would be.So now he’s left with a mess of a cave, a tangled bed of seaweed and moss, sharp rocks in weird places and officially the worst nest the seaworld has probably ever seen.Andrew would never want to be Neil’s mate. Not in actuality.Not when he sees this, sees how he trashed the most important thing of this entire courting bullshit.Not when he realizes that Neil isn't worth it.-or, after months of courting Neil is ready to make the final step with Andrew- only thing is, he sucks at being a merfolk.
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Series: Way Down We Go [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1998619
Comments: 30
Kudos: 363





	Start of Time (with you)

**Author's Note:**

> look, this is a small little sneak peek into the merfolk universe I'm making. The actual story takes place a few years after this, and on land, with the human Foxes who are part of a merfolk research team. I'm really excited to start this! Because one, established Andreil is always, so good, and also twinyard angst will be coming. I'm doing a shit job explaining this but ehhhh
> 
> anyways, yes, mermen have sex in this, if that isn't your thing then leave. It isn't graphic or anything and I don't describe much so use your imagination on how they do it lmao
> 
> few vocab things are, Andrew calls Neil a "Mola," in this, because the 'Mola Mola' fish is the most useless/dumb and undestructable fish in the ocean and it fits Neil as a joke. Sorta a replacement for junkie.
> 
> "Fans" are also another word for their ears, if you don't follow my twitter you haven't seen my character design, but they have ~cool ears~, also don't forget that merfolk are/would be slightly more animalistic, I wanted to keep it more 'real' in that sense, since you know, they are living in the ocean lmao.
> 
> Other then that, I hope you enjoy! Thank you for reading :)

It started on a late morning during the first moon cycle of the month. 

Neil woke next to Andrew. The water was warmer than it had been in months, the coral they had found still surrounded them at the sides, a sharp barrier from the outer sea, and Andrew was still curled in a fitful sleep. Black fins waving slightly in the undercurrent, tail wrapped to the front of his body, glints of the sun danced off of them as Neil watched him from his own corner. 

If they had slept somewhere else, somewhere more dangerous, then maybe he and Andrew would have curled up together. To avoid floating apart during the night, to keep guard over the other, to share the small amount of body heat the two offered. 

But that hadn’t been the case, and Neil could never ask to close the distance between the two, no matter how much he might’ve wanted too. 

Neil didn’t understand how these things worked, but he knew what he wanted - he knew what both of them wanted and it was up to Neil to close the gap that laid between the two. 

The black pearl that Andrew had given him so many months ago was still wrapped around his wrist. It was tied with the blue seaweed that the both of them had discovered when exploring the depths closer to Neil’s old home. The moment Andrew had sunk his teeth into the blue mess, he wrinkled his nose in disgust at the impossibly stretchy substance that had made it the equivalent to human rope. That was what Andrew had told him anyways, when he had carefully tied the pearl around Neil’s wrist, leaving it in a bow. 

“So you can take it off.” Is what Andrew had told him, but Neil still didn’t understand why he would ever want to do that. 

It had taken an entire month for Neil to realize that Andrew had given him the beginnings of a courting offer, to which Neil had missed and Andrew hadn’t bothered to explain. So when it finally clicked and Neil had rushed to Andrew to return the gesture, the other merman had just given him a long stony silence before sighing loudly: 

“I hate you,” he had said, before talking the smooth grey rock Neil had offered him and tied it around his own wrist. 

That was the beginning of… whatever they were.

The thing was, two mature adult mermen, don’t usually travel the depths of the ocean alone together. Both having left their respective colonies for one reason or another. Neil’s own truth ran darker than Andrew’s own personal outcasting, but when the two had met, two different merfolks, from different worlds that somehow understood each other better than the others before them- 

-they just... stayed together. 

They met in a pod of a young merfolk, that diverged from the different parts of the ocean to fight over more mating grounds. Both Andrew and Neil had signaled the other out for being with the school for other reasons than what they claimed.

Neil was running. He was trying to hide for as long as he could before his father found him again and dragged him away to spend the rest of his life as a test subject, miles away from the sea. To suffer the same fate his mother had. 

Andrew had left his family, the last one he had because he wasn’t wanted anymore. He told Neil one night, under the cover of the moon, that his brother had told him that his presence did more harm than good. So he had left. Maybe in his own selfish act of rebellion, of wanting his brother to chase him. 

His brother never did come looking. 

So when the time came, months later - after Andrew had become the first true home Neil had ever had - for the school to head back to their respective homes. Neil had stayed, petrified of the fate that was waiting for him and Andrew had curled a hand around his wrist and pulled. 

“Let’s go,” He had told him, and Neil still remembered staring in confusion at the other.

“Where? I told you I couldn’t go to your colony with you. It isn't safe for you or your family.” 

Andrew had given his own rare smile, only the small upturn of his lips, before he had shaken his head, “No you gruppy, come with me. I’m not going back to that shit hole again, so why don’t we see what else is out here.” 

Neil knew, at the time, that he should say no. 

Andrew was so different from him. He had walked with humans for the entirety of his teen years, had learned how to blend in with humans, had learned how to shift between forms without hesitation. He could go anywhere he wanted, he was strong, he was fast, he was powerful. He would make a remarkable mate for someone one day, he would even probably make his way up the hierarchy to control his own colony too. 

Yet he had wanted to run away with Neil. 

Who never got the chance to walk with humans unless he was tied to a table, who had been in a cage for most of his life- being trained to track the slightest hint of blood and kill what was at the other end of it. 

The one who had escaped at the cost of his mother’s life. 

But still, when Andrew had pulled him alongside him, something inside of him couldn’t stop himself from following him down. 

And down they went. Together. 

He never noticed Andrew’s wants towards him, that somehow Andrew wanted something more - that he could see them as that. 

That Andrew _wanted_ him.

So here he was, watching Andrew’s dorsal fin flare as hazel eyes blink open. Usually, Neil would already be gone to go patrol the area - lone merfolks don’t last long usually. The ocean is not a kind place. 

But Neil can’t help but watch Andrew, can’t help his mind that is running in circles because something feels different today. Something feels new, urgent, in the back of Neil’s mind. 

For the first time, in a very long time, Neil knows who he wants to be. 

Andrew’s golden eyes meet Neil’s ice blue ones, he raises an eyebrow before stretching his forearms out with his side fins. He makes a show of it, to let Neil see his full annoyance at having to be awake already. 

“Lazy ass.” Neil grumbles, finally digging his claws into the ground and pushing himself up, ignoring the shrug Andrew gives him in response. He thinks that he shoots a middle finger in his direction, something that Andrew made sure to explain the meaning of to him, but Neil doesn’t bother to return it. 

Instead he focused on finding both of them breakfast. He feels like he should, maybe? He feels like he needs to do something to impress Andrew, or make Andrew happy.

This is how Neil courts, how his kind would have, by providing. Andrew’s merfolk like flashing things, their lives already stabilized so close to the surface - they like the pearls, the shells and the rich sea life. 

Neil likes to get Andrew food.

Neil already feels the anxiety begin to tick through his body, even as he rides a current to a school of fish that are also following it. Even as he catches two of them with ease, even as he ducks out of the current without trouble and he finds no immediate threat. 

The anxiety continues even as he swims his way back to Andrew - who is still spread across the floor. But this time on his back, fins spread wide, same with his arms. Blond hair floating lazily in front of him. 

Neil darts down, offering the largest fish to Andrew who raises an eyebrow at him but still takes it without complaint.

Neil doesn’t think as he swallows his food, his mind already racing as he begins to search the area. It’s a small pocket he and Andrew had found last night, away from any insane drop offs but not too far from the surface. Food isn’t difficult to find and the temperature isn’t unbearable for Andrew who is adjusted to more warmer climates, Neil thinks it’s good. He thinks he can make this work. 

“Mm, Mola, why are you so twitchy?” Comes a bemused Andrew, who floats towards Neil with a lazy flick of his tail. 

Neil knows he must look weird and strung out, but he’s too scared to admit that to Andrew yet. So instead he smiles and lies, “Nothing! Just wondering if you could do something for me?” 

“So the fish wasn’t free, I _knew_ it you asshole.” Andrew spins back easily and Neil laughs at the accusing expression on the other's face. Neil raises his hands in mock defence, shaking his head. 

“It was actually, this is just a favour.” Neil bites his lips, scrambling for an excuse. He needed Andrew to be busy for at least a few hours, just so he could make this right. He sends a sheepish look to Andrew and waves his hand in the direction of the drop off. “So... uh, can you go get some more blue seaweed, for me? I need to... do something... with it later.” 

Andrew frowns, one eyebrow raised in a silent challenge ' _that's the best you can do?'_ But still, even if he was aware of the obvious lie, he doesn't call Neil on it. Instead shrugging and asking, “Is there a reason you aren’t coming with me?” 

Neil nods stiffly, eyes now unable to meet Andrew’s when he feels his face begin to flush. 

_Are you really going to do this?_

“I’m doing something, so... just… trust me on this okay?” 

Andrew is silent for a few moments, before Neil feels the water shift and a hand is gently curling around his shoulder. The small touch of reassurance is enough to melt the tension from his frame, and he glances up to the other merman.

He sees the corded strength through his body, the black fins dance in the lightened water, the hazel eyes and the touch Neil craves throughout his entire body. 

_Yes, yes he was going to do this._

“Alright, Mola. If you need me, call for me.” He bumps their shoulders together for a breath, before he’s gone, taking off over the edge of the dropoff and swimming out of sight. 

Neil's skin tingles from the contact, for being creatures that crave physical touch - both he and Andrew had cut themselves off from it completely at a young age when all it brought was pain. But now, now they touch each other, after years of missing it - their bodies craving into the other. 

Which makes his skin still sing even minutes after the contact is gone. 

Which does nothing to help the anxiety. 

Neil swallows nothing, but it still hurts his throat as he tries to keep himself from blacking out from _nerves._

_He was going to do this._

-

If Neil was anyone else, he would have been able to do this. 

Mermaids spend their entire youth, on land or otherwise, talking about how they’ll design their nests when they finally accept the courting of a male counterpart. About how beautiful it’ll be, how soft, how intimate it’ll be as they become one. It’s one of the most overhyped things in merfolk culture. 

_Finding your mate, accepting your mate._

But Neil never grew up like the others. 

He isn’t anyone else, and he never would be.

So now he’s left with a mess of a cave, a tangled bed of seaweed and moss, sharp rocks in weird places and officially the worst nest the seaworld has probably ever seen. 

Andrew would never want to be Neil’s mate. Not in actuality. 

Not when he sees this, sees how he trashes the most important thing. Not after he’s aware of all the other mermaids and mermen who would create masterpieces in Neil’s wake.

Neil comes with enough baggage to make people think twice from even speaking to him, let alone mating with him for life. 

Merfolk have spawning seasons, when mating happens between those to make the next group of children that will be raised in the colonies. Becoming _mates_ with someone was another step entirely, a practice that was dying out. Some merfolk just didn’t want to be tied down to one merfolk, they wanted to live, wanted to be with who they wanted during spawning cycles. 

Neil had never understood it. 

Not until Andrew.

He had figured he would never mate with anyone, he had no care to help create the next generations, much less go through the mating processes. He could see the appeal in life bonding with someone to promise your life to another and to stay by their side - but he never wanted to hold someone down like that. 

That included Andrew. 

He had told Andrew everything he could, about his father, about the men on land who wanted to understand what made merfolks the way they were - what gave them the ability to shift. 

How he was trained to be their blood dog of the sea. 

How they were still looking for him - how he would never be good - never be safe. 

Andrew had returned the next day with a black pearl in hand, he hadn’t left his side. 

Neil sank lower to the sea floor in shame, he pressed his fans to the back of his head and closed his eyes. He was scarred beyond belief, ugly and disfigured, he was male, he was everything a merman like Andrew wouldn’t want. 

He didn’t understand, couldn’t understand why Andrew had ignored the courting of countless other mermaids, had rejected them and still brought black pearls every month and pressed them into Neil’s palm.

“Tell me no.” He would say, “Take the bracelet off.”

Neil never could. 

He gave Andrew smooth grey rocks, the ugliest and most pointless things, any other merperson would throw the offer to the side in fury, now that Neil thought about it. No one found them as interesting as Neil had when he had first seen them, they had laughed, had asked him why he was so easy. Andrew had been there too, at the time he and Neil had barely spoken; but he had still watched silently.

Now, still, Andrew took each smooth rock like a gift, stringing it through his own bracelet without the need of sharing any words.

So Neil wanted this, he wanted Andrew.

He _needed_ Andrew. 

He glances behind himself and sees the mess of the nest he attempted to make, the last stage. 

The mating ritual, the time where it secures the bond between mates forever. 

Traditionally done between a merman and mermaid, they would bond, twine their tails and mate. The results would usually end in a child. 

That isn’t how it would work for them. Another reason both of them would be disgraced, another thing that makes Neil different and he supposes Andrew too. They really would be viewed as animals, as crazed lone merfolk. 

But god, did he want it. 

He just hoped Andrew would come to his senses first. That Andrew would finally leave him, that he would be free. 

He couldn’t possibly want Neil. He couldn’t-

“Neil?”

The voice of the subject of all his thoughts breaks through the haze of his mind. Neil jolts upright and locks eyes with Andrew who has reached him now, floating awkwardly in the water before him and a bundle of blue seaweed pressed to his chest. 

“Andrew,” Neil breathes, his gills stuttering when he realizes that this is it. That Andrew can see what Neil tried to create behind them.

Blue seaweed begins floating to the ocean floor, Neil curls in on himself more. Hot shame floods him as he wishes he could disappear forever, he can’t tell what Andrew is thinking. 

“Neil, what are you doing?” Andrew repeats, this time looking down at Neil’s form. Golden eyes staring in a mix of awe and confusion at the other. “Are you okay?”

Neil laughs without humor, “I’m fine. Just fucked up again.” He grumbles, “I always fuck this up.” 

The water moves around them as Andrew shifts down, hands outstretched to touch Neil and only does so when Neil manages a small nod. Surprisingly gentle fingers curl around his shoulders as Andrew pulls himself closer, enough so all of Neil’s senses are filled with him.

“Do you mean this?” He asks instead, his voice is rough and shaky. Neil peers up at him and almost jumps at the look on Andrew’s face, “Do you know what this means Neil?” 

Andrew sounds lost, he sounds desperate, he sounds hopeful. 

“Of course I do,” Neil whispers, “Why do you think I did it?”

A stuttering breath leaves Andrew, so quiet as he stares. His fins twitch as if he isn’t sure of what to say. Neil never really thought about what he would do if Andrew were to leave right now, he doesn’t think he could keep going without Andrew. 

“Do you mean it?” Andrew repeats, his voice cracking at the ends.

Neil wants to tell him that he’s an idiot for even thinking that he doesn’t, everything they’ve been through, everything they’ve done for each other - how could Neil ever question this? 

But when he glances up and sees Andrew’s face - torn up with emotion, hope, fear and want. The words come without hesitation.

“Yes, Andrew.” Neil says softly, “But, I just wanted it to be good-” 

Neil never finishes his sentence because Andrew kisses him. His hands coming up and grabbing Neil’s face, smashing their lips together in a desperate fury of emotions. Everything that had built up over their months together finally slammed into both of them at once in this moment. 

“It is,” Andrew tells him between heated kisses, “It is good, Neil.” 

Hands wrap around Neil’s wrists and lift them to Andrew’s hair, Neil latches on without hesitation and broken noise slipping from his lips as he nods in response.

“Can I accept it?” Andrew’s asking, and Neil doesn’t know what to say. Because, _yes, yes he can. It’s the only thing he wants right now._

So he nods frantically, clinging onto Andrew. “Yes, you can. Always.” 

Neil is struggling to keep himself a float, his tails moving rapidly as Andrew pulls away. Keeping their foreheads pressed together so he can stare into Neil’s chiling gaze. They aren’t deep, barely past any drop offs, the sun still beams into the water and lights the world around them in colour - keeps the water warm against their scales. But goosebumps still break across his skin, feels Andrew run a hand down his dorsal fin, Neil plays with the edge of Andrew’s ear. 

This time, when Andrew goes to kiss him, it’s gentle, a confirmation before he speaks against his mouth. “Ask me.” 

Neil’s heart stumbles to a stop in his chest, a blush blooms to life against his cheeks. 

The words are thick on his tongue and he’s run them through his mind a million times but it doesn’t make it any easier to say. 

To finish the courting and start something else. All forever mates say it. He remembers his mother telling him it, one night, one the nights when she was kind. She told him the words he would only ever say to someone he was sure of. 

_“Mate with me, be my mate until the tides stops and the moon falls.”_ She had tucked a stray curl behind Neil’s ear, and smiled. “ _And sometimes, in very rare cases you find your true mate.”_ She had poked the scale on the top of Neil’s back, _“And after your mating scale with fall off, so they will keep it forever - it means the moon and the seas are on your side, it’s the strongest possible bond.”_

His mother still had her scale, firmly attached to her back. Lots of merfolk did. 

_“But sometimes the universe makes mistakes and you’re true mate will be someone else, sometimes the scale means nothing.”_

Neil was inclined to agree.

So now, hovering in front of Andrew with trembling hands he swallows the fear and tries to at least get this right. He glances shyly up at Andrew, who is still waiting, he was always waiting.

“Mate with me,” Neil whispers finally, “Be my mate until the tides fall and moon stops.” 

Andrew’s face twists, as if he was fighting off a smile and Neil feels his stomach drop.

“I said it wrong didn’t I?” He mumbles, hands flying up to hide his face and his ears pressing flat to his head in embarrassment. He hears Andrew laugh softly, a sound Neil doesn’t think he’s ever heard as he tries to pry Neil’s hands off his face. 

“No, you didn’t.” Andrew says, meeting his eyes once he can see him again. There is still a smile stretched across his face, the merman who had told Neil he would never smile is giving his best to him right now. “It’s a yes, Mola. Until the moon stops and the tides fall.” 

“ _Oh,_ I did say it wrong you asshole!” Neil tries to argue but Andrew is already grabbing onto his hand and pulling Neil after him, he ducks into the cave. It’s still a mess, seaweed clumped together on the floor, sand and rocks already covering the few things he had tried to add to make it look presentable. But Andrew doesn’t comment, just turning back around to face Neil and easily catching him by the shoulders as the other drifts towards him. 

Neil feels his face get hot, reality settling in when he realizes that this is it. That this was really going to happen now. 

Andrew is watching him, a small smile still there, Neil wants to tease him for it but his throat is suddenly too dry to speak. His heart pounds against his chest and he knows Andrew can see his gills flaring on the sides at rapid speeds, hazel eyes tracking them and Neil almost breaks and says something - but then Andrew catches his face in his hands.

Andrew presses his forehead against Neil’s, his eyes closed as his thumbs brush along his cheekbones “It’s just us.” 

Somehow, that’s all Neil needed to hear.

“Can you kiss me?” Neil asks, and Andrew is already cocking his head to the side. Their lips brush for a moment, and then Andrew is hauling Neil in as close as possible and kissing him for all he was worth.

The most surprising thing about all of this was how right it feels. How easily Neil melts into Andrew’s grip, how he can part his lips and let Andrew swipe his tongue along them. How the bottom of Andrew’s tail stretches out and hooks around the end of Neil’s to pull him flush to his body. Both of their breaths catching at the sudden close contact, scales sliding against each other. 

“The- the nest.” Neil mumbles out between kisses, waving a hand down to the clumps of seaweeds below them. Andrew pulls away to glance between them, raising an eyebrow at the sight but still letting themselves float down. Andrew flattens his dorsal fin so his back can press into it and instantly a frown crosses his face, wiggling his body slightly before he pushes Neil off of him and turns. 

At first Neil’s heart jumps to his throat, but he watches Andrew begin to gathering the stray seaweed, digging into the sand and picking out the large rocks sticking out. He turns and raises an eyebrow at Neil in question, who can only shrug.

“I don’t know, we always sleep near rocks? I like rocks.” 

“A nest is supposed to be comfortable, you gruppy.” Andrew says, tossing the rock over his shoulder and continuing his work, darting around Neil to gather more moss and laying it out in an unfamiliar pattern.

Finally, Andrew grabs Neil by the shoulders, manhandles him so his back is faced downward and presses Neil into the nest. Instead of immediately smothering his body like he had hoped, Andrew floats up a bit and crosses his arm.

“Oh,” Neil gasps, suddenly realizing how cozy and nice the small creation was. He wiggles in and feels a smile pull across his face, “Oh I see, this is nice.” 

Andrew raises an eyebrow, “Exactly.” 

Stretching at his arms, Neil tilts his head back and grins, “Guess you can be the one worrying about nest making then.” 

Above him, Andrew grumbles something incoherent, before descending on Neil again. Hands bury in around Neil’s head, so Neil hooks his tail back around Andrew’s to bring him close. Their lips meet, gently at first, his nose bumping into Andrew’s and a giggle slipping past his lips that Andrew silences with a firmer kiss.

The kisses are turning desperate and quick, Andrew’s hands are grasping and touching Neil and Neil throws his arms around Andrew’s neck as he feels his scales slide against his own tail. The curl to his tail begins almost on instinct and he chuckles nervously into Andrew’s neck, the other rumbles in his chest quietly, the sound so unlike Andrew and so _instinctual,_ Neil only laughs louder. 

Andrew kisses the scars on Neil’s chest, tracing them with a soft finger as he too begins wrapping his tail around Neil’s own. The movement pulls them as flush to the other as possible and both of them sigh quietly. 

“I- I don’t know how we do this.” Neil admits finally, rambling on as he tries to get Andrew to understand, “Like I know obviously, but I don’t _know_ kno-” 

Andrew’s quiet laugh cuts him off as he moves back up to Neil’s face and tucks a stray curl behind his ear. 

“I’ll take care of you.” He promises, hazel eyes studying his face in the dying light of the cave. “Do you still want to do this?” 

Neil manages to stop himself from rolling his eyes at Andrew, the reminder of what the other had been through returns so he arches his back to pull himself closer to Andrew’s face.

“ _Yes,_ Andrew. Do you?” 

Molten gold eyes soften, the harsh lines that usually cover Andrew’s face are nowhere in sight as he raises his hand to gently brush along his face, he sighs, so quiet that Neil nearly misses it before he whispers his confirmation. 

“Yes, Neil.” 

So this time, Neil closes the distance between them. Catching Andrew in a frantic kiss, both clinging to each other’s shoulders, hair, face. Their bodies gyrate upwards, against each other, pleasure is a low hum in his veins that only grows more when Andrew begins to slide a hand downwards.

His fingers dance along the scarred and rigged scales, sliding across them- almost speaking to them quietly until Neil feels something part. He gasps when Andrew pulls him out, touching him for the first time.

Neil whimpers into Andrew’s shoulder who only rumbles in response, the feeling so new and Andrew’s hands so gentle. 

“ _Oh,_ oh shit - ” Neil groans, clinging closer to him. He needs him closer now, he needs this, he’s losing his goddamn mind over this. 

A broken gasp, Andrew’s frantic kisses to his neck, the fans at the side of his head duck down as Neil trills to Andrew in approval. Hands suddenly drop to grasp at his hips, running over his scales as they shift. 

When both Neil and Andrew press together, they gasp into each other’s mouths. 

“Holy shit,” Neil whispers, arching his back as Andrew intertwined their tails completely together.

“Okay, okay, hold on to me. Just let me-” Andrew’s breath is broken as his hips rut against him, “Is this okay?” He whispers and Neil is nodding his head frantically as he bucks up to meet him. 

“Yes, yes, yes.” Neil moans, “I got you, I got you.” 

Andrew kisses him again, their words fading into nothing as Andrew reaches down between them, working Neil open with careful fingers and hands as the other runs his fingers through blond locks or across black scales. 

“Do you feel okay?”

He knows he’s making noises out of his control, but he is only pulled closer. He nods into Andrew’s shoulder, “Yes, come on Drew.” 

That’s the last thing he says, as Andrew shifts himself, and finally the world dissolves into nothing as they connect completely for the first time. 

Neil doesn’t even try to breathe as Andrew pushes his hips forward, their tails keeping them locked into place and their weight of holding onto each other keep them from floating away. Andrew’s breath catches in his ear, kisses trail over any point of contact they can make. Soothing hands trail down arms, intertwining with fingers, as Neil murmurs his continued constant.

Clinging to the other, Neil adjusts to the feeling, lost completely in Andrew as the other nuzzles in his neck, making soft groans against his skin as he begins to move.

“Are you okay?” Andrew is asking again and Neil purrs his response. Instincts flooding most of his mind now as he rotates his hips to feel all of Andrew, he has half the mind to thank Andrew for remaking the nest later because he knows he doesn’t plan on leaving anytime soon.

“Mm good, so good.” He reassures his mate, fingers dancing along the others skin, playing with his scales as they rut against each other. Curled together in their nest, broken noises slipping out of them and gills flaring with each snag of pleasure. He doesn’t think he could separate from Andrew now, he doesn’t know where part of him begins and where Andrew ends, they melt together into one self. 

“ _God,_ Neil.” Andrew groans, Neil grins into his skin.

He doesn’t know why they waited so long to do this, when he voices this to Andrew, the other only laughs. This is good. This is everything. He gets it now, he gets why the merfolk are obsessed with this. Neil could get obsessed with this too if he could do it with Andrew forever. 

He glances down and sees black scales become more tinted with red, and red become lined with black. Neil cooes, good _, good_ , Andrew was his. 

The end rushes upon them faster than either of them expect, their bodies colliding against each other, Andew rumbles in his chest, kissing up Neil’s neck. Neil digs his nails into Andrew’s back. His tail tightening frantically, he feels Andrew do the same - he refuses to let go of him now, He couldn’t possibly think of letting Andrew go now. Or ever again. This is it, this is them until the end of time. 

His mate. 

His mate for life. Forever.

They fall over the edge together, whispering sweet praises against the other’s skin. Bodies locking into place as they curl around each other in the soft seaweed below, hidden from the world for now. 

Andrew’s head presses to Neil’s, his mouth open as the gills on his side keep flaring under Neil’s palm. He turns them, so they both can stay wrapped together on their sides. Neil tries not to be embarrassed by the purring his body begins emitting almost immediately, but when he ducks his head closer to his mates chest, he can hear the low rumble in Andrew’s too. A smile splits across his face as he looks up to see hazel eyes now peering back down to him. 

“Hey,” He whispers and Andrew rolls his eyes. 

“ _Hey,_ ” He mocks, and Neil giggles. Pressing his head into Andrew’s chest, enjoying listening to the purrs, so maybe he can tease him about it later. He wishes he could pull Andrew closer right now - even if it was impossible. His heart feels so full, so safe, he has no idea how they hadn’t done this sooner. 

Neil doesn’t realize that Andrew has reached behind them until he feels the jolt of Andrew’s chest, causing him to peer up. The first thing he can see is Andrew’s face, eyes wide, mouth slightly parted as he pulls something up from behind Neil's back. 

“What?” Neil asks but the words die in his throat when Andrew reveals the item he had found. 

A red scale, bright and glinting in the last rays of sunlight. Neil’s hands shoot around and up his back, sure enough the spot on the top of his tail is gone, now cradled in Andrew’s palms. 

_His mating scale._

Flying forward he reaches behind Andrew and grasps around the seaweed until his hands curl around something hard. Neil wrenches it forward and there it is- black as they always have been, Andrew’s own mating scale resting in his grip. 

Disbelief, coupled with a shocking realization that it isn’t even that surprising.

In fact, looking at it now, it just sort of makes sense. 

Still, when he slowly glances up to Andrew, his eyes are also wide and a smile blows to life. 

Andrew stares back before his face mirrors Neil’s own and they both start laughing. Their emotions so high, hitting the point of joy that Neil never thought possible. 

He laughs, Andrew laughs, and Neil falls forward and grasps onto Andrew’s free hand with his own. 

“Guess I’m really stuck with you forever, huh?” Andrew says from above him, and Neil shakes his head into _his true mates_ chest. 

“At least you’ll never be bored, _huh_?” 

Andrew rolls his eyes, before pulling Neil’s scale close to his chest and leaning up to press his lips to Neil’s again. It tastes sweeter than before - it almost tastes like forever.

“Guess so.” Andrew mumbles, and Neil thinks he’s never sounded happier.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are always appreciated! Let me know if you want to see more of this universe because I have a lot planned for it <3, thank you so much for reading! 
> 
> (art is also by me, you can see more on my twitter @kanekicure !)


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